She called me, convinced that they weren’t serious in helping her sell her house. “Don’t people have open houses in D.C.?” she inquired, wondering if her New England agent had just gone under the weather! I laughed and gave her both sides of the debate. It really ends up being a case-by-case deal, but here’s something to help you weigh your odds:

Why Hold an Open House?

Many like Brenda expect an Open House for their home sale. But according to the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR’s) Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, nine out of 10 buyers today look for houses on the Internet. People have less time to spend. New technology that allows 360 degree virtual tours make it almost as good as being there.

On the other hand, a virtual tour is a virtual tour is a virtual tour! Slideshows can show a buyer your house, but it misses that personal touch. They can’t feel, smell or experience your house. It’s like buying a car! People won’t just give a down payment on a car without test-driving it! If people have seen pictures of your home online, they are more likely to elevate their interest to the next level. Don’t believe me? Ask NAR. Their survey also suggests that a large percent of buyers definitely go back to Open Houses as a source of information for their home purchase.

Who will an Open House Benefit?

A survey conducted by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University hinted that the people who actually benefit from Open Houses are usually the agents – it’s a place for them to build on their clientele! How come? Home buyers who come to Open Houses are more likely to ask the agent to show them more houses in a similar price range, similar layout or in the same neighborhood.

The other side of the story suggests that an Open House could in fact help you seal the deal. There are home buyers who are curious to explore all available houses in a certain area, and might not ask their agent to accompany them to every house. Open Houses definitely benefit the seller in such cases.

What other Concerns should you Consider?

Sometimes agents might refrain from holding an Open House if they have a solid marketing strategy in place. It’s an added cost, it eats into their weekends and it could be a waste of time – especially when people visiting the house are not even serious about buying one right now!

Then again there are concerns about safety and security. Who are you inviting into your home? Is it a potential home buyer, or just someone who’s trying to swipe the knickknacks off your mantelpiece?

Explore your options well. If you’ve done aggressive marketing for your home and have still not found any buyers at your doorstep, maybe it is time to have an Open House. You could also reach out to agents at Express Homebuyers who will do the selling for you, with or without an Open House!
Just call us today at 877-804-5252 or visit our website to get started with selling your home today!

As there is no law that forces companies to grant credit, much less at a cheap price, the rest of us have to, first, use what it available for us, and then, plan for the future by improving our credit scores. As mentioned in a recent article, those who seek mortgage help by using a government or lender-sponsored program suffer a credit score blow. Those who file bankruptcy or lose their home to foreclosure are penalized for years. However, any of these things can make for a fresh start.

There are a couple of ways that people in trouble can initiate their own fresh start. Many times people cannot afford to be homeowners, even with mortgage reductions. This is why short sales and even deeds-in-lieu have become a popular way of divesting oneself of a home. If the lender agrees to go with either process, you, as a debtor, can put the mortgage behind you. Assuming that you live more frugally, you can work on paying off your other debt. The downside is that the lender can come after you for the difference.

Express Homebuyers offers a similar but often better option: we buy your home for cash.  Unlike short sales, which often take months to complete, you can have your deal wrapped up within a couple weeks. We even offer you $2,500 upfront so you can use to secure your new dwelling.

Want to get yourself a fresh start? Call Express Homebuyers today at 1-877-804-5252 or visit our website for more details. We can get you started on the way to financial freedom with one phone call.  Make today the day you take charge of your future. We will make you an offer on your first call, provide free reports to help you make your selling decision, and we even offer options to chat with one of our helpful consultants.

This is great news, but there is a down side.  In the process of saving your home, you may lower your credit score. Anytime you are delinquent, have your payment adjusted or loan terms adjusted, you take a credit score hit.

Some homeowners who opted into a trial modification under Making Home Affordable are finding this out the hard way.  They make a few payments at the lower amount, only to find out their score has dropped.  Being in the trial program is no assurance they will even be accepted for permanent modification, yet they are penalized about 100 points just for asking for help.

The credit industry is, of course, quick to defend this practice of penalizing those who even ask for a change in loan terms.  The government realizes this is a side effect.  Consumer advocates deplore the practice on the grounds that people should not be zinged for trying to do the right thing.  All of these parties encourage people in trouble to ask for help before their homes go into foreclosure, but the credit score drop is a disincentive to many.

However, for most who seek help, this is an irrelevant side effect, especially if they are already behind on payments and close to losing their home. It’s like telling people on the sinking Titanic that they will be billed more if they chose a red lifeboat instead of a blue one.  If you’re drowning, you might prefer the blue one, however, if the red one is the only one in sight, paying more for red seems pretty reasonable.

Remedies such as loan modification, bankruptcy, and even short sale or foreclosure are last resort remedies that you might choose when you have no other options.  In a perfect world, you would be able to pay your bills without needing help.  In the real world, if you need help, your best option is to use the help accessible to you.  The time to ask is - as soon as you need it.  There may be a credit score impact with any remedy, but the impact is less the earlier you ask.

Express Homebuyers will buy your home for cash.  Call us today at 1-877-804-5252 or check out our helpful website.  We will make you an offer on your first call, provide free reports to help you make your selling decision, and even offer options to chat with one of our helpful consultants.

The 2009 tax credit incentive for first-time home buyers should give you the impetus to hurry up. $8,000 as a tax credit deduction is a significant amount and has already spurred more home buyers to buy houses in the first quarter of 2010.

To get this benefit, it’s sufficient for the buyer to sign a deal with the seller by April 30, 2010 so long as they close the deal by June 30, 2010.

Don’t wait too long to mark your place up for sale! If you’re looking to sell your house fast, Express Homebuyers can help.  Better still, we can you buy your house for cash. Just call us today at 877-804-5252 or visit our website to get started with the process right away!

Here are some tips to help you ensure that you have a buyer knocking on your door:

• Condition of your home: When listing your house you need to evaluate the overall appearance of your property. Often, considering a renovation could draw more buyers to your home. And don’t forget about curb appeal! If the exterior is not pleasing enough, who’ll want to check the interior? This is probably even more critical if the other houses on your block are well updated.
• Presentation & marketing: De-clutter. Fix & clean your house well. You can get some great tips to fix your house for less than $250. Get professional help to showcase your place – take great pictures and a virtual tour if possible. Ensure that you have your ‘for sale’ details spelled out, conduct regular open houses and advertise within your local community through pamphlets/brochures and to outside buyers through the internet.
• Pricing for sale: Focus on your house’s selling points and drawbacks. Do your own research. Find the asking price in your neighborhood, and adjust your own based on the pros and cons. This will help you find that sweet spot which is neither way above the market, nor way below. If you are uncertain, take an appraiser’s opinion to evaluate your property’s worth.
• Hire a good agent: Your listing agent could help you make or break a good deal. While selecting an agent, you don’t only want to focus on how much money you could get, but also understand the agents marketing strategy towards selling your house. A lot of these hassles could be minimized if you worked with a full-service real estate agent.

Need to sell your house fast?  Your house worries can be behind you by reaching out to us at Express Homebuyers.  We are a full-service real estate agency, and we buy homes for cash within two weeks. This means that the ‘for sale’ tag won’t be in your yard for too long! Just call Express Homebuyers at 1-(877) 907-3232.

The not-so-obvious: We are seeing more deferred maintenance in light of the recession.

Many homeowners these days are putting off doing regular up-keep and repair to their homes. Maybe they can’t afford to replace the roof, or they’re underwater on the mortgage and don’t want to put money into seal coating their driveway when they might not be able to afford the home anymore. They might buy a $5 furnace filter but skip the annual service on the furnace.Whatever the reason, must-do repairs aren’t being done, to the detriment of owners, future owners, and neighbors alike.

We’re seeing the evidence at home improvement stores. Home Depot’s third-quarter 2009 net sales were down 8 percent from the previous year, and Lowes reported a 29.5 percent drop in net earnings in the same time period.  This is interesting as some people who might ordinarily sell their homes are renovating instead. Apparently, this remodeling trend is not enough to offset the effects of the recession.

The homeowner hopes to get by without incident. Sometimes this works out. Other times, something like a simple leak from a pipe in the wall can go from an inexpensive fix the homeowner couldn’t afford to a disaster he really can’t manage.  This situation is adding to the number of distressed properties on the market. Deferring maintenance will only make a home harder to sell and negatively impact its value.

Condo and apartment buildings are affected by recession-inspired deferred maintenance too. When owners don’t pay their condo or homeowner association fees, building maintenance doesn’t happen which brings down the prices of all units in the building. When renters don’t pay their rent in a timely manner, owners may not have the cash flow to do either preventive maintenance or make improvements.

Washington says the recession is over but homeowners with no jobs or shaky finances aren’t buying it. They certainly aren’t buying the goods and services necessary to keep their homes in tip-top shape.  This may be the reality of the current economy, but the resulting deferred maintenance will impact housing prices and neighborhood conditions.

If you need a break from the pressures of home ownership, Express Homebuyers can help you.

We will buy your home as-is and on-time – maybe even before another payment is due.  Contact us today at 877-804-5252 or visit our website to get the process started.  We can wrap up your deal in a couple weeks and even offer you a $2,500 cash advance to help you plan your move.



HAMP was conceived promptly to meet a crisis, so banks had to prepare to implement it quickly.  Participation in the program was voluntary and even banking giants who had developed their own programs for distressed homeowners did not embrace HAMP immediately.

Though banks have been paid incentives through all phases of HAMP, they have been slow to process modifications; the government has only paid $50 million.  Out of 3-4 million homes that Making Home Affordable hoped to saved, there have been only 170,000 permanent loan modifications so far.

There is lots of red tape involved in modifying a loan, but banks are still not set up to handle the waves of foreclosure, despite increased hiring of processing staff.  As a result, it takes a long time to process the paperwork that is justifiably involved in changing loans.

The Underlying Issues…

Banks may be dragging their feet as they, of course, prefer to have borrowers adhere to original loan terms.  In their defense, the ownership of these loans is complicated.  Many are backed by investors, so multiple investors hold mortgages.  How can these investments be valued?  Who loses what and how much?

Almost immediately, an irony shone through.  HAMP could only be successful if banks were on board, but forcing them to comply was (and is) an issue in itself.  In a free society, can a government force private businesses to rewrite loans and thereby threaten their investors’ pocketbooks?

The current crisis requires that banks pick up the pace in their responses and do so in a way that balances their needs as a business, the concerns of their investors, and the plight of distressed homeowners.  This is a tall order, but one that banks must fill if they ever hope to return to business as usual.

Looking to sell your home?  Express Homebuyers buys homes in DC, Maryland, and Virginia.  Call us today for a fair offer.  We buy homes for cash and you could have $2,500 in your hands even before your deal closes.

Under the latest change to the program, banks must offer 3-6 months payment relief to the unemployed. Banks are encouraged (but not required) to cut principle payments, which will be compensated by $75 billion in diverted HAMP funds.

The new guidelines are an attempt to address two major causes of foreclosure: unemployment and negative equity. The crisis started among subprime mortgages that reset but spread to other groups – especially those who lost their jobs or saw their housing values dive. When HAMP was hatched last year, it immediately met criticism because it did not adequately address either problem.

In the original program, HAMP did not demand that principal balances on loans be reduced – even though evidence available at the time showed that this was the most effective way to approach the problem, especially in view of the growing negative equity problem.  Now banks will be offered incentives to reduce principle, but it is still not mandatory that they do so.

The crisis is far from over. Over the next two years, 8 million more foreclosures are anticipated.  Pay-option mortgages will reset, making house payments so large homeowners cannot keep up. Many underwater homeowners finally give up, out of necessity or strategic decision. The current reinvention of HAMP is only expected to help a few hundred thousand people, a couple drops of water in a predicted tsunami of foreclosures.

Feel underwater?  Fearing foreclosure?  Express Homebuyers buys homes for cash in DC, Maryland, and Virginia.